The Pain of Reading the News

There are literally tears in my eyes right now. This is what I just finished reading..._____________________________NICKEL MINES, Pa. - At least six people were killed Monday in a shooting at a one-room Amish school, the county coroner said. The identities and ages of the victims were not immediately available.

The shooter was among the dead, state police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said. “There are also a number of wounded,” he added.

Three girls, all critical with gunshot wounds and ages 6 through 12, were admitted to Lancaster General Hospital, spokesman John Lines told NBC affiliate WGAL-TV. WGAL-TV also reported that the shooter was an adult male who had entered the school in rural Lancaster County and started making threats.

Some people in the Amish community learned about the situation and contacted police, WGAL reported. Negotiations apparently then took place but at some point at least 10 shots were fired within the school, WGAL said. It appeared the shooter took his own life.

Two hours later, about three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, hats and bonnets stood near the small school building speaking to one another, several young people and authorities.__________________________&__________________________BAILEY, Colo. - As the hours dragged by and the gunman inside Platte Canyon High School released four hostages one by one, standing among the desperate parents was John Keyes, wondering about the fate of his 16-year-old daughter, Emily.

Louis Gonzalez, a spokesman for the family, said the father had just bought Emily and her twin brother cell phones for their 16th birthdays. As he stood near the school, he searched for a volunteer to send a text message to Emily.

Less than two hours later, Emily was dying from a gunshot wound to the back of her head delivered by the suicidal gunman as authorities stormed into the classroom. He died at the school and she was declared dead at a Denver hospital.

Morrison selected six girls as hostages and sexually assaulted at least some of them, authorities and witnesses said Thursday. Wegener said the assaults went beyond touching or fondling.

“It was pretty horrific,” Wegener said, without elaborating.

One of the hostages, Lynna Long, told the Rocky Mountain News that she was groped above the waist but believes Emily “got it worse.” Lynna said that she was afraid to look, “but you could hear Emily saying, ‘No. Please don’t.”’

The newspaper said Lynna and her mother had agreed to allow Lynna to be identified by name.

Lynna said all the girls had been told to stand facing a wall, and she could not see what Morrison was doing, but she knew the other girls were being molested because “you could hear the rustling of clothes and elastic being snapped and zippers being opened and closed.”____________________________

I can't believe this world and what we humans are capable of. It is terrible.